Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati

Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, born on the 6th of April in the year of grace 1901, in the distinguished city of Turin, Italy, was a young man of noble birth and yet nobler soul. The son of Alfredo Frassati, a prominent diplomat and newspaper founder, and Adelaide Ametis, a gifted artist, Pier Giorgio grew up amidst culture, refinement, and privilege. Yet from his earliest days, his heart was drawn not to the glitter of society, but to the quiet majesty of Christ and the cries of the poor.

Though he delighted in mountaineering and the company of friends, his truest joys were found in the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and works of mercy. Daily Mass, long hours in prayer, and frequent visits to the sick and destitute marked the hidden fabric of his life. He gave away his possessions, his savings, and even his time with such unassuming charity that few realized the extent of his generosity until after his death.

A student of engineering, Pier Giorgio aspired to bring Christ into the world of labour and industry. He joined Catholic Action and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and stood firm in his faith amidst political unrest, never shrinking from defending truth and justice. Yet he bore all things with a joy so contagious that friends and later Pope John Paul II called him the man of the eight beatitudes.

In 1925, at the mere age of twenty-four, Pier Giorgio contracted polio, likely from his work among the poor. and passed quietly from this life on July 4th. His funeral, expected to be modest, overflowed with throngs of the poor he had served in secret. Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and canonized by Pope Leo XIV in 2025, he remains a radiant exemplar of youthful virtue, proclaiming with his life that holiness is not the enemy of joy, but its very crown.